Hope Fund: Cuban refugee struggles to make life for herself in land of the free

Emma Alonso del Monte is a refugee from Cuba, now living in Jacksonville.

Tears well up in Emma Alonso del Monte’s eyes when she remembers her friends who died in Cuban jails, fighting for their country’s freedom.

One of the most recent was Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political activist who died in jail in 2010 after an 80-day fast. Alonso del Monte reaches for a tissue when she remembers how his fight against the Castro regime led him to be tossed into jail for 36 years.

The Jacksonville woman knows she, too, could have become a casualty of Cuba’s prison system: Alonso del Monte was arrested in 2005 after protesting and handing out literature about human rights and racism.

Alonso del Monte’s anger rises when she speaks of the country she loves — one that was taken over by Fidel Castro more than 50 years ago, after which racism against Cuban blacks became more intense. Because she is black, she said, she was treated worse in prison and was abused daily.

“Fidel said he was for black people, but I’m telling you that that’s a lie,” said Alonso del Monte, her passion bringing her to her feet.

After she was imprisoned in 2005, Alonso del Monte continued her protest in jail, by singing and going on hunger strikes. She was routinely beaten for her dissent.

She was released from Cuban prison in 2007 and emigrated to the United States the next year.

But life was still a struggle. With a bad U.S. economy and her son, who lives in Miami, unable to provide for her, she couldn’t find a job and soon became homeless.

Now 60, Alonso del Monte is struggling to make ends meet here. Diabetic and working part-time as a cleaning lady, she gets paid $255 every 15 days and receives $200 in food stamps monthly.

“I’ve only been able to clean floors and bathrooms,” said Alonso del Monte, who realizes her work chances would increase if she spoke more fluent English. “I get paid very little and just want to find a good job.”

Not long ago, Alonso del Monte’s 73-year-old sister moved in with her from Miami, but she has not found work yet. She has had the same struggles as her younger sister and has been in the U.S. only a few years.

The sisters recently moved from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom partially subsidized by the Jacksonville Housing Authority. Now they have little furniture.

Alonso del Monte could use help with food, clothing and transportation. She is also in need of a new bed, sofa and money to help with purchasing medicine.

The Cuban refugee is relieved to have escaped the horrors of Cuba and now focuses on overcoming each challenge with a smile on her face.

“I am thankful for being here, but I still don’t have a good living situation,” she said. “I just keep moving forward.”

Getting real, Alonso del Monte is 60 years old, doesn’t speak English very well, and although she wants a job that’s better than housecleaning, we know nothing about the skills she developed in Cuba before emigrating. We know she protested, passed out leaflets, and spent time in prison. If this is all Alonso has to show for 60 years, she has probably reached the highest job level she can. Today there are Americans 50 to 60 years old with university educations, and years of progressively more responsible assignments who are out of work—and they can’t find any. If they can’t do it, she can’t either.

We need to change our culture of being so self centered and selfish. Many of us have more things than we need. The marketing culture of buying and buying for the sake of it, is foolish. It is true that it helps the economy but it is unsustainable. Much better would be to create a whole industry of helping others. Being able to share would help everyone. The imbalance today is because some people have more than what they can use in many lifetimes while so many others struggle to survive.

It would nice if Times Union provided a contact for anyone willing to donate or help this lady.

You can times Emma's situation by millions. Its going to get allot worse around here over the next four years. With higher taxes coming for EVERYONE and the cost of living going up, our community will have less and less to help out the needy. And to think Obama will extend citizenship to millions and millions more. They will apply for more assistance because their citizens and will get it. Socialism will prove it will never work in any society. I mean come on - 16 trillion in debt and folks like Emma keep coming in. I don't mean to be so negative but our society has stopped fighting like Emma has in her own country of Cuba. Our law allows any Cuban to set foot on our soil and automatically become a US citizen and we all have to pay for it. Do people who become citizens realize how much individual debt they have signed onto? I guess it really doesn't matter considering their coming in with nothing. Its all Disney world in their minds and its the governments money anyway.